The digital age

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Unit i Living in a digital age

The digital age

Match the captions (1-4) with the pictures (a-d).

1 In education, computers can make all the difference

2 Using a cashpoint, or ATM___

3 The Internet in your pocket......

4 Controlling air traffic___

U^J How are computers used in the situations above? In pairs, discuss your ideas.

Read the text and check your answers to B.

The digital age

We are now living in what some people call the digital age, meaning that computers have become an essential part of our lives. Young people who have grown up with PCs and mobile phones are often called the digital generation. Computers help students to perform mathematical operations and improve their maths skills.They are used to access the Internet, to do basic research and to

communicate with other students around the world. io Teachers use projectors and interactive whiteboards to give presentations and teach sciences, history or I language courses. PCs are also used for administrative purposes - schools use word processors to write letters, and databases to keep records of students 15 and teachers. A school website allows teachers to publish exercises for students to complete online.

Students can also enrol for courses via the website and parents can download official reports.

Mobiles let you make voice calls, send texts, 20 email people and download logos, ringtones or games. With a built-in camera you can send pictures and make video calls in face-to-face mode. New smartphones combine a telephone with web access,. video, a games console, an MP3 player, a personal 25 digital assistant (PDA) and a GPS navigation system, i all in one.

In banks, computers store information about the money held by each customer and enable staff to access large databases and to carry out financial 30 transactions at high speed.They also control the cashpoints, or ATMs (automatic teller machines), which dispense money to customers by the use of a PIN-protected card. People use a Chip and PIN

I card to pay for goods and services. Instead of using a 35 signature to verify payments, customers are asked to enter a four-digit personal identification number

& (PIN), the same number used at cashpoints; this I. system makes transactions more secure. With online

banking, clients can easily pay bills and transfer 40 money from the comfort of their homes.

f Living in a digital age

Airline pilots use computers to help them control the plane. For example, monitors display data about fuel consumption and weather conditions.! In airport control towers, computers are used to 45 manage radar systems and regulate air traffic. On; the ground, airlines are connected to travel agencies | by computer. Travel agents use computers to find out about the availability of flights, prices, times, stopovers and many other details.

DWhen you read a text, you will often see a new word that you don't recognize. If you can identify what type of word it is (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) it can help you guess the meaning.

Find the words (1-10) in the text above. Can you guess the meaning from context? Are they nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs? Write n, v, adj or adv next to each word.

1perform (line 6)_______ 2word processor (line 13). 3online (line 16).............. 4download (line 18) 6 built-in (line 21)..............

5 digital (line 25). 7store (line 27).. 8financial (line 29). 9monitor (line 42). 10 data (line 42)..

keep, save..... execute, do..

monetary..

screen____

integrated.........

E a b с d e f

connected to the Internet..

collection of facts or figures.............

describes information that is recorded or

broadcast using computers...............

Match the words in D (1 -10) with the correct meanings (a-j).

j copy files from a server to your PC or mobile

program used for text manipulation______

In pairs, discuss these questions.

How are/were computers used in your school?

F i 2

How do you think computers will be used in school in the future?

Language work: collocations 1

Verbs and nouns often go together in English to make set phrases, for example access the Internet. These word combinations are called collocations, and they are very common. Learning collocations instead of individual words can help you remember which verb to use with which noun. Here are some examples from the text on pages 2-3: perform operations, do research, make calls, send texts, display data, write letters, store information, complete exercises, carry out transactions.

Use collocations from A and the HELP

box to complete these sentences.

1 Thanks to Wi-Fi, it's now easy to................................ from cafes, hotels, parks and many

other public places.

2 Online banking lets you__________________,._ between your accounts easily and securely.

3 Skype is a technology that enables users to................................ over the Internet for free.

4 In many universities, students are encouraged to__________________ using PowerPoint

in order to make their talks more visually attractive.

5 The Web has revolutionized the way people____________________ - with sites such as

Google and Wikipedia, you can find the information you need in seconds.

6 Cookies allow a website to____________________ on a user's machine and later retrieve it;

when you visit the website again, it remembers your preferences.

Collocations 1

Look at the HELP box and then match the verbs (1-5) with the nouns (a-e) to make collocations from the text on pages 2-3.

give	a	money
keep	b	a PIN
access	с	databases
enter	d	presentations
transfer	e	records

7 With the latest mobile phones, you can.................................. with multimedia

attachments - pictures, audio, even video.

Computers at work

12 Listen to four people talking about how they use computers at work. Write each speaker's job in the table.

electrical engineer secretary librarian composer

Speaker

Job

What they use computers for

в te, Listen again and write what each speaker uses their computer for.

Other applications

In small groups, choose one of the areas in the diagram below and discuss what you can do with computers in that area. Look at the Useful language box below to help you.